WASHINGTON, July 23, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on the Department of Defense (DoD) to drop an anti-Islam lecturer at the Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy (JCITA) in Elkridge, Md., who wrote on an Islamophobic hate site that he "renounced Islam and began the quest to find the real God." (Reza Kahlili: "Why I Renounce Islam and Choose Christ," WND, 8/24/11)

That lecturer, "Reza Kahlili," a pseudonym for a man who says he is a former CIA operative in Iran, also claims that Iranian agents are "coordinating operations out of [American] mosques and Islamic centers," that Iran already has nuclear weapons, and that Iranian agents have infiltrated the United States through the "Muslim Brotherhood's Muslim Students Association." (Daily Caller, 7/22/12; Washington Times, 10/27/11, Los Angeles Times, 7/6/12, American Thinker, 2/23/12)

A program coordinator for Iran instruction at JCITA confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that Kahlili is a paid lecturer for the DoD-chartered academy. His lectures are audio-only, allegedly to protect his identity. The newspaper called Kahlili "one of the most influential and outspoken voices in the U.S. advocating the overthrow of the Iranian government."

"This is yet another unfortunate example of our nation's military and counterterrorism personnel being trained by individuals who weaken America's security by promoting their own religious and political agendas," wrote CAIR national Executive Director Nihad Awad in a letter sent to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.

CAIR chapters in Florida recently held news conferences in Tampa and Pembroke Pines to ask the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to stop using a notorious anti-Muslim bigot as a counterterrorism trainer.

Last month, CAIR welcomed a decision by the U.S. military to stop using a target depicting a Muslim woman wearing a religious head scarf (hijab) and verses from the Quran to train Navy SEALs at the new close quarters combat range at Joint Base Fort Story in Virginia Beach, Va.

CAIR also recently called on the Department of Defense to dismiss an instructor at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., who taught fellow officers that only a "total war" on Islam would protect America, that they should use "Hiroshima" tactics, target civilian populations, and abandon the Geneva Conventions. The instructor of that course was later relieved of his teaching duties.

SEE: U.S. Military Instructor Suspended Over Islam Course http://tinyurl.com/734q6sk

The Washington-based Muslim civil rights organization has also called on the Obama administration, the Department of Homeland Security and Congress to provide oversight for apparently widespread anti-Muslim bias in the training of law enforcement, security and military personnel nationwide.

An 80-page report by Political Research Associates (PRA), titled "Manufacturing the Muslim Menace: Private Firms, Public Servants, & the Threat to Rights and Security," details a systemic failure to regulate content in counterterrorism training.

SEE: Manufacturing the Muslim Menace http://tinyurl.com/4qeretq

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.